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Enter from one side an Old Man, with attendants, bearing Heracles upon a litter, and Hyllus from the house.
Hyllus
O my father! O my misery! What is to become of me? What is my best plan? Ah! Old Man
Whispering.
Hush, young man! Do not rouse [975] the cruel pain that infuriates your father! He lives, though on the very edge. Bite your tongue and hold it! Hyllus
What do you say, old man—is he alive? Old Man
You must not awake the slumberer! You must not rouse and revive [980] his fierce, recurrent infection, my son! Hyllus
But the immense weight of this misery crushes me. My heart craves release! Heracles
O Zeus, in what land am I? Among what people [985] do I lie, tortured with unending agonies? O me, what pain! Oh, that accursed pest gnaws me once more! Old Man
Did I not know how much better it was that you should keep silent, instead of scattering [990] sleep from his brain and eyes? Hyllus
No, I know no way to be patient when I witness this misery. Heracles
O Cenaean rock, foundation of my altars, what cruel reward [995] you have earned me for those fair offerings, O Zeus! Ah, in what ruin you have deposited me, in what ruin! Would that I had never looked on you to my sorrow with my eyes, never come face to face with this blooming madness, which no spell can soothe! [1000] Where is the enchanter, where the practiced healer, save Zeus alone, who will charm this catastrophe away? I would be amazed if I saw him from even a great distance!
Sophocles. The Trachiniae of Sophocles. Edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1892.
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